Carole Torres, chief learning officer, KeyBank

Leadership and Diversity (Winner)

Through her leadership, Carol Torres has helped KeyBank strive to ensure that anyone interacting with a Key employee is able to bring their authentic self.

After a growing trend of client complaints about interaction with employees, Torres led her team to create and implement a training system to help workers become aware of, and better deal with, their unconscious biases.

Torres and her team created the Unconscious Bias Skill Builder Series, which included a series of videos recreating actual situations encountered by employees, role-playing exercises and discussion.

Completed by 98% of branch employees, the training was so well-received and effective, Key expanded it to non-branch employees. About 16,000 Key workers in all completed the course in 2017.

"Carole is a truly outstanding leader in our company. Her drive for outcomes and results is appropriately balanced with achieving these results with and through others. She tirelessly works to ensure that she and her team do the right thing by our customers and employees," said Brian L. Fishel, Key senior vice president and chief talent officer, in the nomination.

For Key, the initiative meant a decrease in complaints and improved client experience. The initiative was recognized, too, when Diversity Inc. ranked Key at No. 35 on its 2018 Top 50 list.

But Torres' work and the initiative go beyond the employment arena.

"This course not only speaks to the culture that Key is striving to achieve and display but who we should be as an individual every day," an employee is quoted as saying in the nomination. — Sue Walton